October 25, 2006

• japanese tourists are often targeted by pickpockets on the metro. > the reality of unfriendly locals and scruffy streets unfriendly locals, yes, but the streets are quite clean in my experience*. unless the bin collectors are on strike, in which case the situation gets out of control fast. *still too much dog poop around, despite several campaigns by city hall.
• Maybe they can sue Leslie Caron.
• ...and a woman who believed she was being attacked with microwaves I'm curious if it appliances attacking her or just radiation.
• It's probably because their only experience of "gaijin" lands is from the tv where everything runs smoothly and looks perfect. It's not Paris - it's reality catching up with them.
• But Paris is rude. Parisians know that they are better than the rest of France, and that France represents the, if not ultimate then penultimate, most civilized nation on earth. Try to pronounce your highschool French in Paris. You cannot be seen, you cannot be understood. Ahh, Paris.
• Je n'irai pas plus loin Mais je te préviens J'irai pas à Paris D'ailleurs j'ai horreur De tous les flons flons De la valse musette Et de l'accordéon
• I've never really experienced this 'Parisians-are-rude' thing, with the exception of those who work in the public sector. Then it's perfectly clear that you're Not Wanted. Other than that, I've found them not to be rude at all. Mind you, I think New York is one of the friendliest towns around, so what do I know?
• Previous cases include a man convinced he was the French "Sun King", Louis XIV, and a woman who believed she was being attacked with microwaves, the paper cited Japanese embassy official Yoshikatsu Aoyagi as saying. You think these people might have been nuts to start with?
• Yeah, what Nickdanger said.... it's like they jumped the curb and are now driving on the sidewalk of general psychological disorders.
• Appears like it's more or less a Jerusalem syndrome for Japanese people.
• Monkeyfilter: driving on the sidewalk of general psychological disorders.
• Considering the role that politeness and manners plays in Japanese culture, it's not at all surprising that Japanese visitors would be horrified at the rudeness in almost any Western city. However, what nickdanger said.
• I went to Paris and they were all so rude! Instead of being suave and glamourous and nude.
• nah! Paris is a lot like New York. I am from New York, and I found Paris delightful and didn't mind the not-so-friendly, snobbish about their language, tragically fully clothed Parisians at all.
• I thought Paris syndrome was another name for the clap.
• On our trip to the UK (and a daytrip to Paris), the rudeness we saw there on a single day was equal to or greater than the rudeness for the rest of the 3 weeks. Doesn't change the fact that the catacombs were awesome. I guess as USAians, we were a bit more immune to that type of rudeness. Certainly didn't result in a psychotic break. Though the 6 Euro can of Coke by the Notre Dame cathedral almost made me start twitching maniacally.
• I loved Paris. People fed me off their plates in Paris. I'm that pathetic looking when I travel. The only rudeness I experienced was where I expected it-on the bus and around tourist areas. Also, Japan, where, on tv, a Komodo dragon was set upon young girls wearing pork chops tied to their foreheads. I rest my case.
• Blanky, I LOVE that show!!!!!!!!!!! I only saw it once but the image of young girls with pork chops on their foreheads screaming hysterically will be with me until the day I die...of laughter!
• Certainly didn't result in a psychotic break. Speak for yourself. I'm still having issues about that guy who wouldn't give us change.
• "..a Komodo dragon was set upon young girls wearing pork chops tied to their foreheads." That is the single greatest televisual moment in human history. Props to spede on the Jerusalem Syndrome. As a collector of weirdness, I should have remembered that & added it to the FPP.
• I, for one, cannot look at this thread without thinking of Paris, Texas. True SMT story: Ah, the college days of international dormitory life. One semester, an unusually large crop of Parisians joined the typically diverse gang of international students. Instead of mingling with others, they *always* stuck together in a bunch - refusing to speak to or acknowledge others. They invariably congregated in the middle of one hallway during late evenings, effectively blocking off this particular dead-end wing of the building. Initially, in attempting to pass (my room was at the end of this particular hall), I would say, "excuse me." The response? Oh, they would stop speaking, give silent dreary looks as if to say, "go fuck yourself!" and resume chatting away in French. If you wanted to pass, you had to muscle your way through. One occasion, I witnessed a young, quiet Japanese male sitting at the end of the hallway reading for over an hour (it was a strange place to sit as it was rather drafty and bleak, next to a stinky rubbish closet). I watched as the French contingent dispersed, and sure enough, the Japanese student stood up and proceeded down the hallway once clear.
• Oh, but it was just an ordinary monitor lizard. If it had been a Komodo dragon, beset with flesh-eating bacteria coated teeth, then it would definitely have merited a long running game show based on that theme.
• "...thinking of Paris, Texas" Strange you should say that, as I have been reading up on dissociative fugue states today, & was thinking about that movie due to the main character being just such an amnesiac.
• "For us, Paris is a dream city. All the French are beautiful and elegant ... And then, when they arrive, the Japanese find the French character is the complete opposite of their own." Mh. And I used to think that certain kind of northamerican tourists, those that despair at a menu that doesn't include hamburgers and coke, were provincial... I recall feeling in London's subway that, should I hesitate and stand still on a pathways, the mass of people walking steadfastly would just mow me down. No rudeness, though. So, the french aren't beautiful and elegant? You might want to re-think your wardrobe to blend in and not become subject to harassment and microwave attacks, Capt.
• From Spede's link: The majority of Jerusalem Syndrome patients are harmless and are usually regarded with pity and/or amusement. The most significant exception occurred in August of 1969, when an Australian tourist, Michael Rohan, overwhelmed with a feeling of divine mission, set fire to the al-Aqsa Mosque.
• Yeah, that was a bit of a bad day for all concerned.
• In my neck of the woods we have Stendhal Syndrome
• It's no ruder than anywhere else if you know the codes. Mind the dog poop though, as roryk says.
• Ah, Stendhal Syndrome. I lived in Florence for a couple of years, for a while just around the corner from the cathedral. I recall several mornings being somewhat overcome as I left the building. I assumed it was aesthetic overload, but it might have been a hangover.
• lol
• MonkeyFilter: De tous les flons flons So, wait, no one's thinking this is actually _real_ is it? ("No one" meaning the physicians/psychologists/diplomats who have seen it) Isn't China like, y'know, kinda pushy and next door to them and all? Like, there's precedent? C'maaaaaaan. No Frickin' Way! Sheesh. *wolfs down pastrami sanwich, thinks about the game*
• Yeah, China has, like, the worst Syndrome of them all...
• Jack Lemmon Syndrome, I think they call it.
• My first thought? To paraphrase Animal House: "Japanese people can't say bad things about the French! Only WE can say bad things about the French!" Though I think it's fun to denigrate the French, it's much less fun after the whole US Republican movement to vilify the country as anti-American terrorist-loving cowards. Those conservative fuckers can surgically remove the fun out of anything, can't they?
• Nothing is French until we decide it is!
• Re: Jerusalem Syndrome, Robert Stone's novel Damascus Gate is a fascinating read. /Robert Stone plug